Towards the end of the eighteenth century, some scholars noticed
relationships between different languages, and began to develop
the idea that some languages are related to one another, in
different ways, and that some language "families" are descended
from common ancestors. The idea was than some similarities could
not be the effect of chance ...
TABLE
One of these families came to be known as the Indo-European
family, which includes almost all the languages spoken in
modern Europe as well as several major languages spoken in
the Middle East and in South Asia. Various branches of this
family can be distinguished as well (italic, germanic, slavonic,
etc. etc).
Not only were the words compared, but also the grammar, the
sounds, and the mythology. Many factors pointed to a common
origin for many different peoples. From a detailed analysis
of the language (and of other evidence), scholars could work
out many details of the "original tribe" from which
so many nations have discended.
About in the 5000 bc, the indoeuropean tribe was living in
the Danube river valley (Wallachia and Hungary). Farming was
learned from the people of Asia Minor. They were devoted to
the cultivation of native rye and oats and domestication of
native pigs, geese, and cattle.
A series of migrations separates the indoeuropeans into several
branches. Some of them will become slavic languages, others
italic languages, others indian languages.
By the year 1000 bc, several of the peoples had already differentiated,
and reached (very approximately) their current locations ...
Traces of this epic migrations can be found not only in the
languages, but also in the gnes and in the artefacts of the
different peoples, and in the archeological findings ...
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Genes,
Peoples and Languages
by Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Mark Seielstad(Translator)
Amazon.com
Jared Diamond says, "It would be a slight exaggeration
to say that L.L. Cavalli-Sforza studies everything about
everybody, because actually he is 'only' interested
in what genes, languages, archaeology, and culture can
teach...
Read more
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